Happy News

A most exciting thing happened this week! We got a 2nd car! The Lord is so good to us. I don't deserve His goodness. So many times I grumbled and complained about being stuck home.
It is an older car (1995) but SO nice. It has what look like (they may not be :) ) leather seats! It's a black Volvo. It will be SO nice to have the extra space with both the boys - a nice spacious, easy to get into back with room for a stroller!! I'm hoping to get a Joovy sit and stand, (I think it would be perfect because of how Patrick really doesn't like to ride, but sometimes he is tired, or we NEED him to ride....) and I can't wait to keep it in the back of *my* car!! :)
Thank You God for your good gifts to us!

Monday I had my first every other week baby appointment! Things went well. Nicolas is now head down! I thought he was, from all the pressure he was giving me!
I had my glucose test, but haven't heard back on that yet.
I opted for doing the orange drink, instead of the other way (it involved more pricking..) well guess what - I ended up getting pricked THREE times anyways! She couldn't get my lovely veins, so we ended up doing it in the hand.

Patrick is saying all kinds of new and hilarious things! We love it. His newest include "Oh dear!" "Oh my!" and "I don't know!" It's a hoot.

Well, today is my first day to have my car here (yesterday James had to take it, because on the way home from picking up the Volvo the Geo had a flat! at about 8:30 at night on highway 30! fun stuff! :) ) so I better go get my little boy out of the bath tub and get ready to GO somewhere!!!

Happy Friday to you all!!!
(Patrick on Sunday....2 years old (and almost 11 months...) )

Monday

I'm now 29 weeks pregnant! amazing to think that in just 10 short weeks I'll be just about ready to have this baby!

Tonight James had a meeting at work, so he is getting home late. That means he cancelled his Monday evening students - which meant P and I had a whole day at home with nothing to do - except Monday chores. I enjoy a quiet day now and then though. It seems I spend a lot of them here lately, w/ one car - but in just the last week I've taken on some new "commitments" and feel a little too busy - and pregnant, lol :)
Also today, my little bil, Jonathan came over to mow etc., which was nice. Patrick and I enjoy getting to see someone during the day.

Today I got everything except two things checked off my "to-do" list.
I didn't mail netflix or exercise (oh, I guess three...) or make a new food rotation plan for Patrick, but I did:
Dishes (nice stack from the weekend, plus the ones from today)
Devotions w/ Patrick
Breakfast
Clean Kitchen
Change our sheets/make beds
Take out trash (but It's still sitting outside, as I didn't take it to the dumpster...)
clean bathroom/ bathe Patrick/take a bath myself (eventually :) )
vacuum
Sweep/Mop/Dust
re-arrange Patrick's furniture
clean fish tank
Patrick's food diary
Lunch
Read to Patrick
Rest Time
Make dinner
Laundry (isn't finished, but I did some/folded/put-away...still need to hang up James' work clothes to dry)
re-arrange kitchen a little
Paint a few spots in Patrick's room that needed fixed from my last painting job :)

It seems that everyday Patrick is growing in his talking! James and I are so proud of our little "late-bloomer" :)
Awhile back we contacted ECI about evaluating Patrick. They came out, and said he did qualify for the program. He was "behind" in two areas, although nothing dreadful.
Then, James and I both decided that we would rather not use ECI, due to a few various things, so we hope to get some speech therapy for little P later on....however, in the mean-time, like I said, he is just taking off!
He amazes me, which of course isn't too amazing, because he is my son :) (isn't hard for a child to amaze it's own parents, eh? :) )

Today he pretended practically all day that he was his cousin "bebe Kaa-fen". He crawled, and also, whatever he was doing "bebe Kaa-fen" was doing. Then I became aunt "Rachel" too!
Yesterday we were on our way home, and all of a sudden, just out of the blue Patrick said "Aah-most Home" !!! James and I looked at each other in amazement! First of all, he's never said that before - and it was without any coaching - second of all, we really were just around the corner from home! Attentive little guy :)
He is at the point where he just says most anything that he hears, or that he has heard. Words come out of his mouth that we never knew he knew! Like tonight he said to James on the phone "Miss you". I told him to say it, but still - he actually SAID it, and said it well! :)

Well, my James just pulled into the drive-way, and he has brought me Chipotle (even though I made dinner - ah well - can't pass up Chipotle - and the soup will save :) )

To all a good-night!

Musings

Life is moving right along!

Last baby appointment went well. Dinah said my weight gain was "perfect." I don't know how much I've gained, though. My scale here at home lies to me big time ;) and I was using it for my pre-pregnancy weight. I actually can't remember exactly how much it even said I weighed, pre-pregnancy. It bugs me not to be able to know exactly where I was starting from.
Anyhoo, like I said, I don't know how much I've gained. Dinah decided to weigh me "backwards" and I was happy to do so :) I didn't want to know how much I gained. She can tell me if it's good or bad and I can be in ignorance to exactly how fat I'm getting :) lol.

Nicolas appears to be doing well. He is definitely growing, that I know - since my belly has seemed to expand greatly of late!
He was laying kind of at an angle/sideways last appointment, with his head up around my ribs on my right side, and his little bottom and feet down in my lower tummy.
He kicks A LOT. Sometimes I wonder if he will sleep much after he's born! He seems to be moving around often in there :) Really though, it's mostly when I'm sitting still or lying down, which makes sense.
James was able to feel and see him move on the 6th and 7th! So fun. He was amazed at how active he was being! It's so strange and neat to see my tummy move around! funny funny.

I was able to buy the new crib set last weekend! I'm still waiting to get a mattress (Patrick's toddler bed uses our old crib mattress) but I went ahead and put the bumpers etc. on. It is looking very cute, and makes me excited and nervous all at the same time!
I am anxious for Nicolas to arrive, and VERY excited to have another baby, yet at the same time I think about how hard it will be to be sleep deprived again - and that I'm not really looking forward to!
I worry too, about how it will be with two children.....how I'll feel about loving them both....will I be able to enjoy having a sweet new baby to the fullest, without worrying my head off about how Patrick is feeling.....and whether Nicolas will wake Patrick up in the night crying! I was joking the other night with James, telling him how when Nicolas is here and wailing in the night we'll stumble into his room, trip over Patrick's tricycle and end up with two children wailing!!
Silly me!
Oh well - I do know that it really is a short time and sacrifice, even if it SEEMS to be a long time ;) and I'm really hoping we get an amazing sleeper in Nicolas, too :) but, James reminded me that no matter how amazing of a sleeper he is, little babies just need to eat often. Dear James is so matter of fact and fine with these big life changes :) I of course freak out, but he is mr. calm, cool and collected. It was that way with Patrick too - from before he was born to afterwards.
Also, my sweet uncle reminded me that I can think and plan ahead, but God only gives grace for situations when IN them - moment by moment. That's a good reminder!

Well, my little boy is calling out "pee-pee" (he just woke up! He slept in today!)
so I better scoot!

Good day to you all!

Patrick Moments to Remember...

Last week Patrick was looking at a photo album of his babyhood. He was making some comments about the various pictures, and when he got to some of him with wires and what-not attached to him, he got very sad. He kept saying "ow" or "owie" several times, and was practically crying over it. It was so heartbreaking! My sweet little tender-hearted boy.

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One day at rest time, Patrick was very upset about the fact that I was putting up his black window shade. He was throwing a fit, and I was dealing with him. All of a sudden, amidst the tears etc. etc. he said "Rocking chair" (or something like that :) )

I thought it was so sweet of him to want to rock with me! We haven't rocked in awhile, and the fact that he requested that melted my heart! (Even if he was being such a bad boy at the time ;))

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Patrick loves to dream about the "new bebe".

We talk about it, and what he will do with it. He wants to change it's diaper and show baby Nicolas his "pot" movie (Spot the dog) among many other things, like playing together etc.

He also has said that he will rock Nicolas.

I love to watch and hear him say these things. He is so expressive and tender.

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My MIL seems to think that Patrick is a lot like James when he was a child. Things Patrick does remind her of James. Things like the way he walks sometimes, or the fact that he sometimes sticks his tongue out when he gets excited :) and how silly Patrick is, too!

Also, James sees some of himself in Patrick. Patrick is very controlling. He has exact opinions about how everything is going to go, and gets extremely upset if we say otherwise. We are working with him, and we hope that God will do a work in his heart as he grows, but at times it is also humorous. (at times it's terribly discouraging, too. I didn't know children could be like this! James laughs sometimes and says "Gallagher children" :) )

anyways, the other night James and Patrick were looking at books to read before bed. James was thumbing through them, and Patrick reached out and stopped his hands, since he didn't want James to be doing that right then.

James told me that when he and his younger brother were playing, he would do things like that. Apparently Joseph would set up some thing with the play people, then James would say "no, they are going to do -------- and ----------" So opinionated! (aren't we all though!)

He cries too, when something doesn't go the way he planned or would like. The book we read today made him cry, because the baby threw the rubber duck out of the bathtub....a while back he cried because "dingle" (the neighborhood dog who he just LOVES) decided to put down the piece of trash he was carrying in his mouth!

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I love Patrick so much. He is talking up a blue streak, and I love to hear his sweet little voice, and the way he says things. He has started saying "yessss" now, instead of "yah" and I love it! To have this little person with me each day, talking to me, doing things with me.....it's a precious time.